What is the CCCID?
A CCCID is a unique student-identifier generated when an individual (student) creates an OpenCCC account, enabling secure, single sign-on access to admissions applications and other systemwide web-based services. The CCCID is commonly created during the CCCApply admissions application process, however, any existing student can (and should) be encouraged to create an OpenCCC account and thus create their own CCCID, explained Lou Delzompo, Chief Technology Officer of the CCC Technology Center.
Some key functions of the CCCID:
- The CCCID is generated when a student sets up an OpenCCC account and commonly passed to the college in the CCCApply data download.
- The CCCID is then stored in the college’s SIS or college LDAP/Active Directory
- The CCCID is passed as an attribute from the college’s IdP to the systemwide applications SP (i.e. Canvas, CCCAssess, MyPath, etc.)
- The CCCID is used by the systemwide application to identify the student.
How do colleges get the CCCID?
The majority of students get their CCCIDs when they first apply to a California Community College using the CCCApply admission application. Since 2012, when the CCC Technology Center first released the new CCCApply application in conjunction with the new OpenCCC Account system, colleges have downloaded new student/applicants through their CCCApply download client process. The OpenCCC Account data fields, which are created as part of the initial CCCApply application, are passed to the college with the CCCApply application data in their automated download file. Below is a diagram that illlustrates the process that colleges are using now to download the OpenCCC data - including the student's system-generaged CCCID - along with the student's application data.
What OpenCCC Account data fields are passed to the college via the CCCApply download process?
Below are the required data fields collected in the OpenCCC Account:
- Legal Name (Last, First, Middle)
- Birthdate
- Permanent Address
- Main Phone Number
- Username
- Password
- PIN Number
- Security Question Responses 1-3
These data fields are optional in the OpenCCC Account creation process:
Previous Name (Last, First, Middle)
Preferred Name (Last, First, Middle)
Social Security Number/Taxpayer Identification Number
Authorization for Text Messages for Main Phone
Second Telephone
Authorization for Text Messages for Second Phone
How long does it take to get through the OpenCCC Account creation process?
The full OpenCCC Account creation process is very quick and easy to complete. There are three pages total.
The significance of CCCID for the CCC SSO Federation
The CCCID is used for multiple purposes across the California Community Colleges system. The CCC Chancellor's Office and other systemwide organizations rely on the CCCID to track progress and the educational choices made by student across the course of their academic journey. Students that attend multiple colleges across the system are tracked in one central location (OpenCCC Student Account System) and their CCCID will be used for research (locally and systemwide) to better align support and services across the system.
In order to track students through their CCCID, the objective of the SSO Proxy is to ensure that every CCC student has a CCCID. Therefore, as part of the SSO Proxy integration, it is strongly recommended that colleges store the CCCID in their Active Directory or LDAP directory in order to pass this attribute with the EPPN with the student user session when authenticating to a CCC web application, such as CCCAssess, Canvas and MyPath.
What is the EPPN?
The EduPersonPrincipalName (EPPN) is the unique identifier for a user (applicant, student, faculty, staff) across all college IdPs.
For the the Student population, a Central OpenCCC Id (CCCID) is a unique correlation ID for a single student across the entire CCC system and is a key SAML attribute requirement across all service providers. Many colleges will be able to lookup the CCCID from their directory servers, but for the colleges that dont store CCCID, the central IdP proxy will be used to lookup the CCCID for a given EPPN and included it in the list of SAML attributes sent to the final Service Provider.
The EPPN has the syntax of an email address, but it should be considered a "globally unique federated identifier" rather than an email address. It is generally the most important attribute to be shared with federated services. Note that the value of EPPN does not have to match what the user fills in as their username when they login, and the user does not need to know what their EPPN is, as it is shared between the IdP and the service. It should be unique, rarely change, and not be reassigned to another user.
The significance of EPPN to the CCC SSO Federation
The EduPersonPrincipalName (EPPN) is the unique identifier for a user for across all college IDPs.
For the the Student population, an OpenCCC Account Id (CCCID) is a unique correlation ID for a single student across then entire CCC system and is a key SAML attribute requirement across all service providers. Many colleges will be able to lookup the CCCID from their directory servers, but for the colleges that dont store CCCID, the SSO Proxy will be used to lookup the CCCID for a given EPPN and included it in the list of SAML attributes sent to the final Service Provider.